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It is often said that an entire generation was wiped out in the war and the sheer scale of the losses is hard for us to comprehend today.

A postcard from the First World War entitled Till The Boys Come Home (Image: Cornwall's Regimental Museum)

The conflict also changed the nature of warfare, which become mechanised and with appalling losses never seen before. It led to the development of frightening new advances, such as barbed wire, poison gas and tanks.

The names of Cornwall’s war dead have been painstakingly compiled from ten years' of research by the Cornwall Family History Society, which has researched the names of everyone listed on war memorials and church rolls of honour.

You can see those who died from Cornwall listed on our interactive map above.

Ian Bell, chairman of the society, said: “The sacrifice that was made was phenomenal. There was only one ‘thankful village’ in Cornwall where everyone came home. It affected a huge number of communities.”

The gathering storm

Back in 1914, the horrors of war were yet to unfold and the possibility of a showdown with Germany was met with popularity, with many forecasting naively that the war would be over by Christmas.

Melanie James has studied the Cornish response to the declaration of war in August 1914. Her work forms the opening chapter of a new book called Cornwall and the Great War. The work, which is due to be published in December, has been commissioned by University of Exeter’s Institute of Cornish Studies. It draws together different views by Cornish academics on the impact of the war in Cornwall.

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She said: “On June 25, 1914, the first serious reference to hostility was announced in the Royal Cornwall Gazette. Although entitled: ‘The German Menace’, the article made no mention of any danger to Britain.

“On July 2, it proclaimed that there were ‘Battleships at Padstow!’ - but readers were not to be alarmed however. Rather, they were invited to come aboard to explore, for it was the holiday season.

Locals from Padstow welcome sailors from HMS Conqueror as they come ashore in 1914.

“That Cornwall was in carnival mood in July 1914 is unquestionable. The newspapers were packed with news of agricultural shows, garden fetes, summer sales, rallies, festivals, and sports events to tempt holidaymakers. There were more serious news items of course, such as Home Rule in Ireland, strikes, women’s suffrage, and the price of tin but the atmosphere in Cornwall throughout July was decidedly merry.

HMS Thunderer and HMS Conqueror cruise out off Padstow Bay, 1914.

“On 28 July, the Royal Cornwall Gazette included a small paragraph announcing: ‘Austria declares war on Servia’ but the general tone of the newspaper was one of merriment. As war loomed, the newspapers hoped for favourable weather as the Bank Holiday approached.

“On 1 August, the West Briton included features on suffragism and the St Austell vegetable show. It did acknowledge the continental war but there was a more pressing concern: ‘... the weather is the most disturbing factor’. Inside, it referred to the Territorials’ encampment, free motor rides and sports activities, but also ‘The European Crisis’ and a ‘Prayer for Peace’ from the Bishop of Truro, leaving for Canada. Such was the mood in Cornwall on the eve of the First World War.

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“The Royal Cornwall Gazette headlines on 6 August declared: ‘Great Britain accepts Germany’s challenge, a fight for Honour, Truth, and Justice. England expects that every man will do his duty.’

“From the tone of the subsequent text, it is evident that a naval war was expected and, in that regard, it was believed Britain was well prepared. The newspapers recorded the mobilisation of Cornishmen in the Navy and Reserve in such numbers that it was feared the removal of so many men from fishing ports would have ‘a retarding effect on the fisheries.’

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Cornwall remembers the First World War

“The Cornish felt the war was ‘a matter for the Navy,’ and they were accustomed to sending their men to the navy and reserve in huge numbers.

“Major Bawden of the Duke of Cornwall’s Light Infantry, said: ‘There was no county which in proportion to its numbers sent more men to serve in the forces. To the navy, Cornwall sent eight men for one in any other county.’

“It was estimated that men from Cornwall and Devon at one time made up two-thirds of the Royal Navy’s total manpower, and the Cornish felt they contributed handsomely. There was no indication of the trench warfare to come.

“On 20 August the Royal Cornwall Gazette was even advising humorously on the best way to cook a German sausage: ‘... on a British Kitchener, use a Japan enamelled saucepan, Greece well with Russian tallow, flavour with a little Jellicoe, Servia (Help!), with little French capers and Brussels’ Scouts.’

New recruits leave Redruth railway station in September 1914.

“Little else featured in the newspapers. Festivities and sports were cancelled ‘on account of the dark cloud overhanging the country,’ and the ‘scarcity of players owing to the war’. Each column attests to the county’s noble efforts as everyone rallied to the cause.

“Patriotic funds were initiated, Red Cross and ambulance classes set up, Belgian refugees were accommodated, large houses and schools converted to hospitals. Girls set about making garments and mattresses for wounded soldiers, and women’s groups provided meals for troops.

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“Yet by September, Cornwall stood accused of a poor response to the call to arms. The Royal Cornwall Gazette regularly published an ‘Appeal to Cornishmen’. Cornwall, particularly its rural areas, was deemed unpatriotic.

“It is clear that initially many had no idea why the country was at war, particularly with Germany. The Bishop of Truro was due to leave for Canada on retreat and had said prayers ‘for those who are spending their holidays in Cornwall’ - clearly unaware of the imminent war.”

More of Melanie’s work and other stories can be read in the forthcoming book Cornwall and the Great War. To order a copy, email cornishstudies@Exeter.ac.uk.

The horrors of war

It was not long before the war escalated and the British Expeditionary Force found itself in full retreat after the First Battle of Mons in August 1914.

Many sailors from Cornwall found themselves fighting on dry land as part of the Naval Division. It was formed in 1914 from naval reservists and Royal Marines, initially to defend ports and naval bases on the continent.

But they soon found themselves on the frontline and, throughout the war, were seen as one of the best led and highly motivated fighting units on the Western Front.

Aidan ‘Chippy’ Wood, who works at Royal Naval Air Station Culdrose at Helston, researched the forgotten stories of the Naval Division in 2014.

He said they wore naval badges of rank and continued the tradition of sailors having beards, while naval discipline was also enforced.

Sailors of the Royal Naval Division at Antwerp 1914 (Image: Royal Navy)

He said: “Their baptism of fire was at Antwerp in Belgium when they were thrown into the thick of it. The Germans had underestimated the tenacity of the small Belgian Army which had fought continuously for over eight weeks, dislocating the German battle plan.

“This under-strength and under-trained Naval Division supported the beleaguered Belgian Army, managing to hold a superior, trained force that was taken by surprise by their fighting spirit.

“In some ways they didn’t stand a chance, but they influenced the early stages of the First World War, allowing the British and French allies time to reorganise and eventually hold the Germans along the western front, where the war stagnated for the next four years.”

As 1915 opened, the stalemate on the Western Front led to the development of the trench warfare system which has come to dominate the memory of the First World War.

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Stories of Cornishmen in the First World War

The Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry

For many in Cornwall, the obvious place to enlist was with the Duke of Cornwall’s Light Infantry, otherwise known as the DCLI. The old barracks of the DCLI in Bodmin are now a museum, dedicated to the memory of those who served in the regiment.

More than 2,000 men passed through the training camp at Bodmin. They undertook between three to six months of training before joining battalions serving around the world.

Soldiers of the DCLI fought throughout the war on the Western Front, as well as in Italy, Greece and the Middle East. Soldiers also served in India and Egypt.

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One of the most famous veterans of the war was Harry Patch, who died in 2009 at the age of 111.

He was an early volunteer with the DCLI in Bodmin. He was from Somerset but his experiences would have been shared by many Cornishmen with whom he served.

When the war broke out, he was 18 years old. However, he rarely spoke about the war until he turned 100.

In an interview with the BBC, he said: “I didn’t want to go. I knew what I was going to. A lot of people didn’t and when they got to France they had a rude awakening.

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“The trenches were about six feet deep, about three feet wide – mud, water, a duckboard if you were lucky. You slept on the firing step, if you could, shells bursting all around you. Filthy.

“I never had any clean clothes. And when we got to Rouen on the way home they took every stitch of clothing off us – vest, shirt, pants, everything – and they burnt it all. It was the only way to get rid of the lice: for each lousy louse, he had his own particular bite, and his own itch, and he’d drive you mad.

“We used to turn our vests inside out to get a little relief. And you’d go down all the seams, if you dared show a light, with a candle, and burn them out.

DCLI soldiers put on a brave face in January 1915, while stationed on the Messines Ridge (Image: Cornwall's Regimental Museum)

“You daren’t show above [the trench] otherwise a sniper would have you. You used to look between the fire and apertures and all you could see was a couple of stray dogs out there, fighting over a biscuit that they’d found. They were fighting for their lives.

“And the thought came to me – well, there they are, two animals out there fighting over dog biscuit, the same as we get to live. They were fighting for their lives.

I said, ‘We are two civilised nations – British and German – and what were we doing? We were in a lousy, dirty trench fighting for our lives? For what? For eighteen pence a flipping day’.

“If any man tells you he went into the front line and he wasn’t scared – he’s a liar. You were scared from the moment you got there. You never knew.

“I mean, in the trench you were all right. If you kept down, a sniper couldn’t get you. But you never knew if the artillery had a shell that burst above you and you caught the shrapnel. That was it.”

DCLI soldiers in the atrocious conditions on the Western Front, pictured in 1915 or 1916 (Image: Cornwall's Regimental Museum)

A truly global war

Men and women from Cornwall would end up serving on military fronts around the world, from the failed attack of the Somme Offensive and the mud of Ypres, in Italy and Greece, and to the deserts of the Middle East.

The sheer scale of the conflict is reflected in the story of one Cornishman whose names lives on today in Cornwall, although he was destined never to return home.

In Bodmin is the Finn VC estate, a couple of streets of semi-detached houses that were named in honour of James Henry Finn.

Finn was born in St Clement near Truro, but his family later moved to Bodmin, the town where he is now remembered. He joined the DCLI as a territorial as his father, John Finn, had fought with the DCLI in the Boer War.

Private James Finn, pictured here before the First World War with his machine gun section with the Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry (Image: Cornwall's Regimental Museum)

Looking for work as a miner, Finn moved to south Wales where he worked at a colliery. It was while he was here, at the outbreak of the war in 1914, that he joined the South Wales Borderers.

His regiment fought during the Gallipoli campaign in July 1915, where Finn was wounded in the knee and chest.

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He was brought back to Britain to recover and then rejoined the 4th Battalion, which had now switched to the Mesopotamian front, in what is modern-day Iraq, to fight the Ottoman Turks.

The fighting in the Middle East was to be as fiercely fought as that of the Western Front and it was during one battle that Finn, then aged 22, performed his courageous action.

On April 9, 1916, the 4th Battalion was at a place called Sanna-i-Yat.

Private James Finn VC, who was born in Truro and lived in Bodmin. He was killed in Mesopotamia in 1916

A report in the London Gazette of Finn’s actions reads as follows: “For most conspicuous bravery. After a night attack he was one of a small party which dug-in in front of our advanced line and about 300 yards from the enemy's trenches.

“Seeing several wounded men lying out in front he went out and bandaged them all under heavy fire, making several journeys in order to do so.

“He then went back to our advanced trench for a stretcher and, being unable to get one, he himself carried on his back a badly wounded man into safety.

“He then returned and, aided by another man who was wounded during the act, carried in another badly wounded man. He was under continuous fire while performing this gallant work.”

For his exceptional bravery under fire, Finn was awarded the Victoria Cross, the highest honour which can be bestowed on a member of the armed forces. Finn was decorated with the ribbon of the Victoria Cross in November 1916.

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Cornwall in the First World War

Just four months later, on March 29, 1917, he was wounded in the leg in a battle at Marl Plain, about 50 miles north of Baghdad.

He was taken by stretcher to a field ambulance the next day, but on the way he was struck in the side by another bullet and died.

King George V presented his father with his son’s medal in London later that year.

Soldiers of the DCLI escorting German prisoners attempt to cross a destroyed bridge near Cambrai (Image: Cornwall's Regimental Museum)

Desperate fighting in 1918

By 1918, the deadlock of the Western Front remained as deadly as ever. The Germans launched a huge offensive in the spring in a last bid to break the Allies lines, before American soldiers were deployed in France.

The men of the DCLI again found themselves in action, as they were hurriedly called to help stop part of the massive German assault on The Somme.

The confusion and desperation of the Allies to halt the Germans is captured in the dairy of Captain Leslie Spry Leverton, from Menheniot.

On March 23, 1918, he wrote: “We are told by an acting brigadier that we are to do a counterattack on a village called Verlaines. It was all arranged in five minutes. The direction of the village we are to attack is almost behind us, so it is obvious that we are almost surrounded.

“Off we go in artillery formation. The mist has cleared and it is quite hot – a good day for tennis. The left flank rests on the Voyennes-Ham road. I am on the right flank. Suddenly I hear a band and on the road is the band of the 7th D.C.L.I. trying to cheer us up.

Members of a DCLI battalion band (Image: Cornwall's Regimental Museum)

“We go on for quite two miles. We then see the village, extend, fix bayonets and trudge slowly on, very hot, tired and hungry. Several men faint. As we enter the village we run about a bit and go through swinging half-left towards the outskirts of Ham. Most of the Bosche in the village bolt.

"As we pass through the village I see half a loaf of stale bread and a bottle of lukewarm white wine on the ground which I picked up as we rush on. We are now approaching the crest, so we go in short rushes. When we halt I pass the bread along to the men and eat some myself as it seems one’s only chance of ever getting any food inside you.

"Next rush urged on by [Captain] Tyacke and we are on the crest with houses of St Sulpice and a small wood looking down on us. We now get it in the neck from machine-gun and rifle fire, especially snipers in the houses. Tyacke is shot through the heart. [Captain] Jeffery badly wounded in the head. It is impossible to move, and to attack a town like Ham with a few men is absurd. We are beyond our proper objective.

An attack by British soldiers on the Western Front in 1918

“The men are knocked out as they lie and the stretch-bearers, who were splendid, were all killed. We get our Lewis gun on to about twelve Bosche who run from the houses, and scupper them. I get a rifle and killed one to my intense satisfaction, but the Bosche bullets fairly fly.

“I get the men to fire at certain windows of the houses, but it is an unseen enemy. I get up to see about the flanks and then to find [the commanding officer] Edyvean, but it is murder to walk about. I could feel the snipers having their go at me as soon as I stood up, but am, as usual, lucky.”

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The line retreats behind the crest and dig in for the night. The diary adds: “Suddenly a Bosche aeroplane flies along the line (we are not dug in yet) at no more than 100 feet and fires at us: several are hit. We retaliate and bring him crashing down in the woods by Ham. Loud cheers from everyone.

“It is now about 4.30pm. We entered the village of Verlaines about 2.30pm. That evening the fire dies down and the Bosche shell the houses they had occupied in front of us heavily, also dropping a barrage behind us.”

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The battalion stayed in position and successfully repulsed several counterattacks during the night.

Captain Leverton was awarded the Military Cross in 1917 and Bar in 1918. His original diary which was written in pencil on rough paper, in great haste in the front line while under enemy fire.

He survived the war but died in Northern Rhodesia, now Zambia, in 1924 of tuberculosis. He was 30 years old.

Several women from Cornwall also died while serving their country, mostly as nurses. An added danger in 1918 was the Spanish Flu epidemic which is estimated to have killed more than 50 million people worldwide.

They included Nursing Sister Rita Mary Bennetts, from Pendeen, who died on the day peace was finally declared, November 11, 1918. She had been serving at one of three large military hospitals in Southampton at the time of her death.

The final news

It was on a Monday that the news of a complete ceasefire on all fronts, at 11am on November 11, 1918, was telegraphed around the world.

While we remember Armistice Day today with solemn remembrance for those who died, the prevailing mood at the time was one of celebration. While many no doubt celebrated a great victory for the British Empire and its allies, it is not hard to imagine that the prevailing spirit was pure relief that the killing was finally over.

Before long, crowds of people rushed into the streets, cheering and singing. There were cheers for the king, soldiers and sailors and the spontaneous singing of the National Anthem.

In Camborne, workers from the bomb factories led a procession through the town centre and, in Redruth, ‘munition girls’ led the singing in the streets. The sirens on the mines in the district sounded throughout the day.

“Truro received the news with much enthusiasm. The announcement in The West Briton window soon attracted a big crowd, who cheered lustily. From now onwards the crowd grew larger and larger, flags and bunting were very quickly displayed, and the detonators at the railway station resounded throughout the city.

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“The Mayor (Mr. John Tonkin) mounted a farm wagon which had halted in Boscowen-street, informed the crowd of the news, and three cheers were given for the King, the soldiers and sailors and others. Speaking later the Mayor said they were celebrating a victory which their fathers, sons, and brothers had won for them. Unfortunately some of them would not come back, and the sympathy went out to those homes in Truro where there was sorrow for loved ones. (Hear, hear.)

“But they were proud of the fact that the Allies had won the victory, and that the great day they had been looking forward to had come, and they looked forward to the day when those who had gone from the city would be back with them again. (Applause).

Sailors parade through Penzance after the peace in 1918.

“Many of the schools in the city were closed on account of influenza, but in those that were open there was scenes of enthusiasm. Children gathered around flags, cheered themselves hoarse, and eventually marched to Boscowen-street, where there was still more cheering and jubilation. The schools closed for the remainder of the day. At St. Paul’s the lads were assembled at 10.30, sang the Doxology and National Anthems, the flag was hosted, and cheers were given for the King, and the soldiers and sailors.

“The singing of the National Anthem and hymns in Boscowen-street was led by Messrs H. Phillips and W. Champion (cornets). Shortly before 1 o’clock the Truro College Cadet Corps, with their band, paraded Boscowen-street, being followed by wounded soldiers and sailors with hats covered with Union Jacks, and children blowing trumpets and waving flags. In accordance with the wishes of the Mayor, the majority of tradesmen closed their premises. At 4 o’clock this afternoon there was a thanksgiving service in Truro Cathedral.”

Similar scenes were taking place around Cornwall and the entire country. People could finally believe that the war to end all wars, was over.